Who wants to run this place?

[Dan Szwarc]

I need a moderator for this area. Who wants to be it?

[PinkLinc]

Not It! Sorry... Had an elementary school playground moment there... I think that Michael Jackson thread is getting to me...

[ReijerLincoln]

Dan, I'd be willing to help out the forum. Before I commit; could you PM me with the specifics so I know what is expected from forum moderators?

[Dan Szwarc]

A moderator has the ability for edit, lock, move, and perform other maintenance to messages and posts.

I would like said moderator to create sub-forums and organize the documents in a logical manner, keeping the information easily accessible and not a jumble of documents.

It has to be someone I can trust, who doesn't let power go to their heads, has a mild disposition, can visit the forum frequently, and is responsible enough to do what is needed.

Reijer, you seem to meet those qualifications. Wanna give it a spin?

The hardest part is me figuring out how to give you the rights to do it!

[ReijerLincoln]

Wanna give it a spin?

Certainly. Does my set of keys to the forum come with a nice Lincoln logo?

My suggestions for subforums are the following (Dan and other members, please fill in the 'pre-1956' and 'post-1980' blanks for me):
- Continental MkII (1956-1957)
- Continental Mark III, IV & V (1958-1960)
- Lincoln Continental (1961-1969)
- Lincoln Continental Mark III (1968 - 1971)
- Lincoln Continental Mark IV (1972-1976)
- Lincoln Continental Mark V (1977-1979)
- Continental Mark VI (1980 - 19??)
- Town car.... (????-????)

Cheers,
Reijer

[Dan Szwarc]

I was going to break it up by years. Literally, sub-forum for every year.
If we standardize titles, such as "Year, Model, Category, Document type, title" etc. searching the forum would be easy.

I tried to do this with the "Parts Cross Reference" posts, but no one other than me ever posted in the same format. Most people seldom posted any cross reference information.

I need people who want to contribute, not just ask questions.

[Kuripiiritus]

i think sub forum for every year would not make much sense. The suggestion by models is more like it. As the cars within one model are pretty much the same, and it's easier to find stuff when you don't have to look for all the years.

[ReijerLincoln]

A sub-forum for every year seems unnecessary to me too, even if there are relatively few pre-1955 car owners active on the forum.

Having said that, my suggestion for "- Lincoln Continental (1961-1969)" should perhaps be divided into 61-63, 64-65, 66-68.

[Dan Szwarc]

The problem I have encountered is that even if we break the cars down by certain years based on styles, etc., Ford's documentation tends to break them down more arbitrarily.

The MPCs that the forum offers are broken down as this:
56-59
60-64
65-72
73-79

However, in the Lincoln club, judging-wise, it is more logical to break them down as
58-60
61-65 (or 61-63 & 64-65)
66-69
70-73
74-79 (or even 74-76 & 77 to 79)

But that's more the Lincolns, not the Marks which would be
69-71 Mark III
72-76 Mark IV
77-79 Mark V

The only way to really do this is not to use the forum for documentation, but to set up a completely different database that allows users to search and have the appropriate document come up or be listed.

I don't know how to do that, but I would be happy to install an SQL or php program that did it (we run on a Linux server so no Access or ASP program will do). For that I need a dedicated individual to update the system assuming others provided the documents.

THAT is what we really need here. Dedicated Lincoln enthusiasts who are also good at organization and can learn to use database management software.

[ReijerLincoln]

Dan, I have no experience with what you're describing but I''ll still give it a try.

[norgale]

The biggest problem I had with this topic was not being able to move threads around to keep them in some kind of order. I just never could figure out how to do that or how to eliminate stuff that was redundant or not appropriate to the topic and how to move threads to the appropriate topic.
I always wanted to oranize this topic by subject matter like a real library. Like the electricals; it makes more sense to have all the electrical diagrams in one place lined up by year than to have them all split up according to year and mixed with other topics for the same year. The main thing is to keep it simple. If a guy wants info on tires then he should be able to select "Tires" and get all the info,by year,that we might have for tires. Same for electricals, mechanicals,cooling systems,convertible tops,body parts, ect. Maybe take a shop manual and line this info up like they do in the contents. Separate literature from the rest and line that up by year with a subsection on ads and articles written about Lincolns in general.
Main thing is to get it started and work it out as you go along. The biggest part of this topic is the electricals I think. Start with that and get them back into order under ELECTRICAL by the year starting with the oldest year first. Find out what,if anything,is missing and we'll try to fill in the gaps. I think I still have diagrams that need to be added.
I wish I could have kept up with this when I was the moderator but without the ability to move threads around there was no way to keep it all straight. I started this topic so I would really like to see it organized and I'm here to help in any way that I can. Pete

[Dan Szwarc]

Pete,
I appreciate your help here with that you have done. The problem is we are trying to use a date-based forum to organize a data-based documentation system. It's the wrong tool for the job. I am looking into database software, but it will require tons of effort on the part of a LOT of volunteers. I don't have very many of those and can't/won't do it myself.

The best thing we can do in the forum is use standardized formats for information. Once a user knows how they standard works, they can search on it, finding what he needs.

[norgale]

Well that makes sense Dan but that's one heck of a lot of work. I assume your talking about the whole forum and not just the Documantation topic. You might check the forum at RCGroups.com and see how they do their website. It covers every sort of RC model that you can think of just like you want to do with Lincolns. It's also much more picture posting friendly although ours is ok once you figure out how it works. Pete

[norgale]

So what's being done here? Is anybody going to straighten this topic out? There's too much on here that doesn't belong on here and needs to be eliminated. I am getting requests for info that is on here and people can't seem to find it. I don't mind that and I'll help anyone get the info they need for their Lincoln but this topic needs to be organized somehow. Just curious. Pete